Worthy Enough
by XEOCX13
Summary: Spoilers from TWD Game. Following the events of TWD: A New Frontier Episode 5: From the Gallows, Clementine tries to comfort Gabe after a choice he had to make and this leads to her opening up to him. ClementinexGabe. Slight spoilers ahead.


Quick fix following the events in my outcome. Slight spoilers ahead.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

"Can you take Gabe somewhere safe?"

"Yeah, sure."

Kate turned to Javi, "Come on Javi." He rose slowly, continuing to give a pitiful look at his nephew and followed Kate to where Clementine and Gabe had returned from. Clementine trudged Gabe ahead, spotting Jesus on horseback beheading a walker.

She quickly but gently helped him sit on the curb. He cradled his forehead in his hands as the chaos around them began to dwindle. Clementine stood.

"Let me get something for that," she gestured to his bruised forehead. She diligently tore off part of her plaid jacket hanging from her waist and went to the fountain to dampen it. Wringing it out, she turned back to Gabe and knelt beside him.

"Let me," Clementine insisted and Gabe dropped his hands on his lap. She carefully placed the wet cloth on the wound and very subtly began to wipe away the blood that had begun to harden.

It was an intimate task but a necessary one, considering Gabe was in no position to take care of himself. Frankly, he was silent the way back to Javi and Kate but Clementine didn't pry. After the choices she had to make in her past, this was probably to first time Gabe had to make such a decision. Especially on his father, who he idolized for years but turned out nothing more than a hot headed soldier. While Clementine had to fortune of having many surrogate fathers over the years, Javier, Kate, and his now deceased sister Mariana were all that he had. Any more loss would probably break him.

Clementine hesitantly reached up for his orange cap and took it off, watching to see if Gabe would react in anyway. His eyes were down and hadn't went her way once. It was almost odd that he _wasn't_ looking at her. Clementine wasn't stupid. She could tell the second time they met, he couldn't keep his eyes off her. While she found it kind of creepy at first and that no one else would look at her that way, she could assume that he must've, for whatever reason, felt something for her. She wasn't as oblivious to previous romances in previous groups but the attention was never set on her. So now when a boy around her age was starting to stare and talk more than she had had in the past year, it kicked in an immediate fight or flight response.

While it was to say the least flattering that someone looked and thought of her in a daresay romantic way, it could be just his body reacting. If her recent "bleeding" was any sign of her maturity and way into womanhood, Gabe must be in some way experiencing something similar. Probably all hormonal and seeing a girl at his own age for the first time in years only added fuel to the fire.

She pushed his bangs back and continue to wipe any trace of blood, dirt, or sweat on his face. In some ways, she almost wanted him to cast a look her. Just something to let her know he was okay. But who knows how long it would take for him to recover this turmoil weighing him down?

"I'm such a fuck up."

Clementine blinked at his words, almost under his breath.

"What?"

"All I've done is fuck up everything. I was the one that got Mari killed, I was the one who got this town get overrun by muertos, I got dad-" He stops himself and shakes his head, like he was trying to shake the image of his dead father out of his mind. "All I do is get everyone around me hurt. I don't listen; I just open my big mouth and make everything worse."

Clementine had stopped her cleaning and stared hard at him. She honestly wished she had something to say back to him but words failed to come to mind. Her silence in fact only seem to solidify his words as true. He scoffed lightly and hung his head down.

"Why did you save me and not dad?"

Clementine jerked her head back as if he had hit her. "What?"

"Makes you wonder why Javi didn't go after us when he had the chance. He sent you instead. As if saving me was an afterthought…"

"Gabe, stop it. You're only making this worse," Clementine sighed.

"You're right. I am making it worse. Like I said, everything I do makes it worse," he says lowly.

Clementine, for a moment, wanted to lash back but knew everything he was saying was bubbling self doubt on failing to save his dad. Since he couldn't, he placed the blame on everyone.

She rose and went back to the fountain to re dampen the cloth. She felt his glower burn into her back as she wrung out the cloth. Even in self doubt, anger, and disappoint, he couldn't keep his eyes off her. She bit the inside of her cheek, trying to think of anything, _anything_ that would ease both of their troubles. On one hand, her words may be able to comfort him, if he indeed felt any affection towards. Maybe he would be more inclined to settle down if she took this slowly. However, any misstep could instigate and aggravate his already troubled mind. Gabe was as angsty as any teengaer but was more like his father than he might even realize. He was short temper and while his intentions were in the right place, he would have to fall a few times before realizing his mistakes.

Clementine numbly walked back over to Gabe, who was now staring down at his lap. Abruptly, she pushed back his bangs and continued to clean his face. The tension was thick between them and battle had all but died down. The distinctive horse canter and few chitters from birds cleared the air. It almost sounded normal, like how her and AJ would spend their nights listening to the quiet sounds of the forest around them. The brush of the branches, the trickle of the creek, and the hum of the wind grazing their faces.

Clementine soon found herself talking without even realizing it.

"I don't really remember my parents. I mean, I kind of remember what they look like but every day they seem to slip further from my memory," she stopped and heaved a sigh. "They weren't around when this nightmare started. I was alone, like I always am I guess. That's when Lee found me."

Clementine's voice dropped lowly. She had stopped wiping his wound and was staring down into her lap. "I was in other groups along the way but Lee was always there. He took care of me. He was a convicted felon. now that I think about it. but I didn't know any better. I didn't and still don't care what he did. He protected me when I needed him then most. Became almost like my dad," she smiled and scoffed. She frowned suddenly. "I thought if we had each other, nothing would ever happen to us. We would protect each other, no matter what. But that's when I lost him.

"He was bit...and I had to shoot him...before he turned. I don't know if he's proud of me or not that I've survived this long. I tried to show AJ the same love he showed me. He taught me to keep my hair short, cover myself in walker guts so I wouldn't get seen…" her voice trailed off. She looked up slowly and found herself meeting her eyes with Gabe's. His expression was unreadable, maybe pitiful but he was still staring. Giving her a look that she had seen many times before and trace of something she couldn't quite figure out.

Her breath seem to slip and her heart quickened. _What was he…?_ She dropped the cloth to her lap and immediately diverted eye contact. She shakily stood. "I can't do this…" She suddenly began walking away from him, from everything that happened. She could feel him staring the whole way.

For the rest of the day, Clementine was doing anything that would keep her busy and away from everyone. More specifically Gabe. She helped Jesus and his crew clean up the dead walkers and load them in wheelbarrows to be hauled overboard. She fastened barricades, checked the perimeter more times than she had ever had at Howe's Hardware, cleaned up the dead non walker bodies and prepared them for burial. She single handedly had done more for the community than Joan had ever did.

It was late in the evening and Clementine and Jesus were sitting by the fireside. She was picking at the last bit of beans in her tin can as Jesus chattered away about stories from saving other communities and how some were luckier than others. She would nod and hum occasionally in response to let him know she was listening.

She felt so foolish. How could she have been so stupid? Why lay out all of her problems right after he had just killed his father? It wouldn't solve anything and it probably scared him off. The amount of emotional baggage she's had to lug around her whole life did not need to shared with anyone else. What could he possibly think of her now?

She blinked suddenly. Why should she care at all of what he thinks? Why should his opinion matter in the slightest? These were her problems and his opinion didn't change that.

"Well, look who decided to join." Jesus' voice snapped clementine out of her thoughts. She looked up quickly and saw Gabe approach the fire. His manners seemed normal, as if nothing had happened today. He gave a weary nod to Jesus and sat before, opposite of Clementine.

She bit her lip and scraped the last of her beans with her plastic spoon. A million thoughts scrambled her mind. She shifted uneasily in her seat and every so often cast a glance his way. His attention however was on Jesus, who continued to expressively tell stories of past raids and rescues. Clementine frowned and set the can of beans beside her. _Great, now he won't even look at me. He probably thinks I'm a freak._

She sighed and rubbed her hands together by the fire, looking anywhere but at Gabe and Jesus. The fire cast long shadows on the brick buildings beside them. Clementine smiled softly and brought her hands up, creating a shadow image of a turtle. She would always do this to keep AJ entertained or helped put him to sleep. Their lack of toys would be made up with imaginary shadows and soft giggles in the night.

She quickly peeked to see if Jesus or Gabe were watching but they were distracted by each other's company. For the briefest moment, Clementine frowned and dropped her hands to her lap.

"Break's over for me, I guess," Jesus exclaimed suddenly. He stood and stretch and gave a look to Clementine, a smile creeping up on his face. She furrowed her brow in response but Jesus was already turning away from the fire and back to his horse, leaving Clementine alone with Gabe.

The fire flicked and cracked with each moment as the two teens sat silently across from each other. She stared softly at him, hoping that the fire would mask her gaze. He was staring into the fire, like he was trying to read the flames and decrypt a message within them. The light shone off his brown eyes, speckling for a moment as embers faintly pass by. Clementine looked down as she felt her heart speed up.

She couldn't move when he felt himself shift around and inched his way over to her, almost nonchalantly. He was making no effort to hide this movement and before she knew, he was just a foot apart from her. Clementine tightened her hands in her lap, itching her "AJ" tattoo to keep her mind off his closeness.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gabe raise his hand in front of the fire and made a shape with them. He looked past her and she slowly turned to find the brick wall be encased by a bird shadow. She paused and blinked hard at the image.

"I don't remember how to do a turtle, but a bird is okay, I guess," Gabe said. She still hadn't faced him but watched as the shadow drop from the light. She turned back and met his gaze as he smiled a little uneasily at her. While he was acting normal to say the least, the fire revealed the nervousness of his expression and his smile faltered the longer she stared.

Her stomach somersaulted and she had to catch her breath before a returning the smile, feeling relaxed for the first time since they arrived in Richmond. "It's more than enough."


End file.
